Friday, May 29, 2009

I'm a big fan of the mockumentary. I'm also a BIG fan of David Crowder*Band. So when Jeff, our youth intern, told me about David Crowder*Band Rockumentary I was apprehensive. If you love two things and then they come together it can either be great like peanut butter and chocolate or it can be bizarre and not great like chocolate flavored popcorn, or fried pickles and peanut butter, or worse yet the pear flavored jelly bellies. These episodes are definitely like a Reese's Peanut Butter cup.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

This morning I finished The Organic Godby Margaret Feinberg. She's an amazing author. I discovered her through a post on Mark Batterson's blog regarding her book The Sacred Echo. I got the book and devoured it! Fantastic. Wanting more of her writing I found Organic God and started pouring through it as well.

While there were many ways God used this book to open my eyes and get my attention, the best take away is her reflection on Proverbs 14:4 in her chapter on God being incredibly wise. Provebs 14:4 says, "Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest." (NLT) Some parts of every job are stinky. There are parts of every job we'd rather do without, but stick with it because it will lead to profit. Her observation is that no oxen=no poop=no profit OR oxen+poop=profit.

There are parts of jobs and projects I would love to do without, but it's way better to keep at it and reap the benefits of a job well done in the end. Good reminder and a great challenge.

Friday, May 22, 2009

"One part of finding your voice is identifying your life themes. C.S. Lewis said, "Every life is comprised of a few themes." Over time you identify those unique God-given convictions that drive you. For example, there are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet. That is one of my themes. A life theme isn't something you know. It's something you ooze out of your pores. It's not something you define. It's something that defines you. It's more than head-knowledge. It's a gut-conviction."

It got me to thinking about what I know about myself. What are my life themes? I'm sure that I have them, but when I ask that question I draw a blank, so I've started to think about it and ask God to help me recognize the life themes of my life.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Inspirational. I saw pictures of a friend running with a tiara on her head and was immediately drawn to find out more! Disney hosts a Princess half marathon every year! You get to run 13.1 miles through Disney World! The medals they give out at the end are tiaras on ribbons and if I register earlly enough my running bib can say Princess Laura!!!

It's in March though. Running conditions are really different in Florida in March than they are in Wisconsin in March... It could work if I could run laps around an indoor swimming pool! Hmmm... something to think about.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Here we go for another try. I have dismally failed on this portion on my New Year's resolution, but I'm picking it up again. Pushing through to the inspiration and determination. Let it be so.

I've been reading the stories of Samuel and the first kings of Israel recently. In my journey, Israel has just made the transition from King David to King Solomon. One of the interesting points I picked up on this time through these chapters is the dream of building the temple.

David is the one who had the dream, the goal, the vision for the temple. He looked at his palace and realized how lovely it was and that the ark of the covenant was sitting in a tent. He started to make the plans and then God said, "Thank you so much for wanting to build this for me, but this isn't your job. Your son is going to build a temple for me."

Years later Solomon, having become incredibly wealthy and wise, remembered his father's vision and God's promise that David's son would build the temple. He picked up the dream and made it a reality. The description of the temple is awe-inspiring. The hundreds of bronze pomegranates, the altar, the 15 foot cherubim! God's house was amazing.

But I wonder, what if David hadn't had the dream in the first place. Would Solomon have built the temple without the dream of his father?

This makes me wonder if there are dreams I have that aren't for me to fulfill or what am I fulfilling that had their start in the dreams of others? We're definitely supposed to have dream and goals that we have and carry out, but sometimes maybe we are just the dream carrier, the dream conveyor and someone else carries out the dream and makes it reality.

David and Solomon's temple building story makes me wonder how many other times God has used someone as the dream sparker and another to carry out the plan.